CHICAGO -- James Shields' White Sox debut was a less-than-auspicious one, as the Nationals knocked him out in the third inning during an 11-4 victory Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field. Meanwhile, Max Scherzer was sharp over seven scoreless innings, limiting the White Sox to five hits and fanning six.
Shields, who was acquired from San Diego this past Saturday, was touched up for four in the first and two in the second, throwing 32 pitches in the opening frame and a massive 47 in the second. He exited after Anthony Rendon's leadoff single in the third, allowing seven runs on eight hits while striking out two and walking two. Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa all went deep. In Shields' last two outings, he has yielded 17 runs on 16 hits in 4 2/3 innings to go with three strikeouts, six walks and five home runs.
The White Sox fell below .500 for the first time this season at 29-30. They have lost five straight, 12 of their last 14 and 20 of their last 26. Scherzer improved to 10-2 over his last 13 starts against the White Sox.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Homer barrage: The Nationals have scored 10 runs in three consecutive games for only the second time in team history (June 26-28, 2012, all at Colorado). They began the day tied with the Mets for the National League lead in home runs with 77. The Nationals added to their total with four homers Wednesday night, starting with a two-run blast from Zimmerman in the first that capped a four-run inning.
Espinosa and Drew crushed back-to-back homers in the second inning, the seventh time this season the Nationals have hit back-to-back homer runs. Then Jayson Werth launched a three-run homer in the eighth.
Shuck takes the mound: With the White Sox out of pitchers due to Shields' short start and Matt Purke's three innings Tuesday, outfielder J.B. Shuck was given the ninth inning. The left-hander posted a 17-12 record with a 3.87 ERA over 41 games pitched for Ohio State, but this outing marked his Major League debut. Shuck allowed one run, but did retire Bryce Harper on a groundout to first
Strong start from Scherzer: The Nationals' bullpen had to recover from a short outing by Tuesday starter Joe Ross, so manager Dusty Baker hoped to receive a strong and lengthy outing from Scherzer, who delivered just that. He scattered five hits across seven shutout innings with six strikeouts and a walk. It was another strong outing from Scherzer, whose ERA got as high as 4.60 on May 6. But he has been strong in his last five starts, posting a 3.05 ERA with 55 strikeouts to nine walks.
WHAT'S NEXT
Nationals: The Nats will go for a three-game sweep Thursday at 8:10 p.m. ET and hope to get left-hander Gio Gonzalez back on track after three consecutive disappointing outings that has caused his ERA to rise from 1.86 to 3.94.
White Sox: With Carlos Rodon having his start skipped due to neck soreness, Miguel Gonzalez (0-1, 3.93 ERA) gets the call for the series finale at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. CT. Gonzalez has not picked up a victory since July 25, 2015, when he was with the Orioles.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003. Read his blog, Merk's Works, follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin, on Facebook and listen to his podcast.
Jamal Collier covers the Nationals for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamalcollier.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire